The Xperthr Podcast

Which employment cases will have the biggest impact on HR in 2019? We assess the likely impact on employers of upcoming cases on: the national minimum wage, shared parental leave, holiday pay, restrictive covenants, collective bargaining, covert CCTV, and employment status. The 2019 cases that we discuss pose the following questions: Are sleep-in care workers entitled to the national minimum wage while asleep? Is it sex discrimination for employers to enhance maternity pay but not shared parental pay? Is ambulance workers' voluntary overtime sufficiently regular and settled to be included in the calculation of holiday pay? Is a restrictive covenant that prevents an ex-employee from being "concerned or interested in" a competitor for six months too wide to be enforceable? Are employers permitted to make direct pay offers to employees "over the heads of the union" when collective bargaining breaks down? Is an employer that introduces widespread covert CCTV to tackle thefts breaching employees' right to privacy?

In this roundtable podcast, members of the XpertHR editorial team reflect on the key employment law developments of 2018 and the impact of these for HR, including: Brexit; the GDPR; the apprenticeship levy; pay reporting; parental bereavement leave; and family-friendly policies. With many of the changes likely to affect employers of all sizes and in differing sectors, we consider what employers need to do to prepare and plan for the year ahead and beyond. Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Susie Munro, Stephen Simpson, Noelle Murphy and Fiona Cuming. Edited and produced by Chris Bryant.

Charlotte Billot-Taylor, Leader - Employee Relations, Policy & Advice at PwC, discusses her organisation's approach to flexible working and transparency around family-friendly policies. She shares the experience of PwC in introducing new initiatives designed around various flexible working patterns, and offers advice for any organisations looking to evaluate or modify flexible working policies or practice for employees. Presenter Noelle Murphy is joined by Charlotte Billot-Taylor.

Laurie Anstis, director with Boyes Turner LLP and updating author at XpertHR, focusses on how employers can avoid unfair dismissals when going through a redundancy exercise. Laurie covers when to seek volunteers, how to go about the consultation process, identifying and applying selection criteria, scoring those at risk of redundancy, avoiding redundancy problems and dealing with appeals against dismissal. Presenter Noelle Murphy is joined by Laurie Anstis.

Employers have awarded only modest pay rises over recent years, but what do they have in store for 2019? XpertHR managing editor for pay and HR practice Sheila Attwood joins us to discuss what organisations are planning on the pay front in 2019, including the likely level of pay awards and the factors that are putting pressure on organisations to make higher or lower increases. Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Sheila Attwood. Edited and produced by Chris Bryant.

XpertHR reward consultant Penne Cecil-Hutton joins us to share her insight into the steps employers are taking to address or improve the gender pay gap within their organisations, and the most common queries that employers have with preparing or interpreting gender pay gap figures. We also round up what employers need to do to prepare for the next date of publication of gender pay gap reports in 2019.

In the recent decision of Talon Engineering Ltd v Smith, the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld an earlier tribunal finding that an employer's refusal to postpone a disciplinary hearing because of the unavailability of the employee's companion led to the employee being unfairly dismissed. Consultant editor, Darren Newman, explains the background to the case and its legal implications. We go on to discuss what employers can take from this decision and how they should be handling postponement requests as a result. Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Darren Newman.

Senior HR practice editor Noelle Murphy discusses the trends in key HR metrics gathered by XpertHR for over a decade. We cover movements in sickness absence rates, labour turnover - including rates among employees with less than 12 months' service - and changes in the ratio of HR practitioners to employees, and consider what these changes mean for HR and the wider business. Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Noelle Murphy. Edited and produced by Chris Bryant

Embedding an effective mental health first-aid structure in your organisation is a key step to ensuring the mental wellbeing of your workforce. Mental health first-aid instructor and management trainer, Peter Larkum, takes you through what you need to know about mental health first aid at work.

Louise Haycock, a senior manager at Fragomen and updating author at XpertHR, outlines where all things Brexit stand as of now for employers, what the end of free movement will mean for current and future employees from the European Economic Area and the implications of a "no deal" Brexit. Louise also covers what steps HR can take to reassure any employees who may be directly affected by the end of free movement between the UK and the EU and key dates around the process. Presenter Noelle Murphy is joined by Louise Haycock. Edited and produced by Chris Bryant.

The right to know who holds data about you and how it is being processed has long been a fundamental part of data protection law. The GDPR has brought in a renewed focus on transparency, and employers need to be prepared to respond quickly, should an employee or job applicant make a data subject access request. We discuss the main changes in the procedure for responding to a subject access request under the GDPR regime and the practicalities of providing access to what could potentially be a large amount of data. We highight the resources on XpertHR that can help employers comply with their obligations.

The headlines are being dominated by "gig economy" employment status cases, but there are plenty of other important employment law cases coming up. We discuss the potential implications for employers of forthcoming rulings on whistleblowing, data protection, restrictive covenants, covert CCTV and violence at work-related social events.

In the recent decision in Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police and another, the Employment Appeal Tribunal opened up the question of whether or not an employer's policy of giving a period of full pay to mothers on maternity leave, but paying only statutory shared parental pay to partners, is indirectly discriminatory. Douglas Leach, who represents Mr Hextall in the case and is a barrister at Guildhall chambers, outlines the case and explains the potential implications of the decision for employers. Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Douglas Leach. Edited and produced by Chris Bryant.

With the World Cup 2018 starting on 14 June, we can safely say that football fever is about to arrive in the workplace. We discuss how employers can make the World Cup a home win by taking advantage of all the employment engagement opportunities that this event can bring. We look at some issues that might arise during the World Cup and we take a look at two employment law cases, Post Office v Liddiard and May & Baker Ltd (t/a Sanofi-Aventis Pharma) v Okerago, concerning employee conduct during this sporting celebration. Presenter Noelle Murphy is joined by Fiona Cuming.

Enforcing the protection that restrictive covenants provide can be difficult and legally complex, particularly at a time when key commercial interests are at stake and emotions are running high. Special guest, Patrick Brodie, Head of Employment at law firm RPC and XpertHR contributing author, takes you through what you need to know about restrictive covenants to protect your business effectively.

Gender pay gap reports have now been published by more than 10,000 organisations. Mark Crail, content director at XpertHR including the XpertHR gender pay gap reporting service, discusses the main findings from the reports, how best to use the data internally and externally, and the dos and don'ts when preparing reports for 2019.

Managing the needs of a bereaved employee is one of most sensitive issues that HR professionals can face. Sheila Attwood, XpertHR managing editor for pay and HR practice, talks us through the support that employers can give employees at the time of a bereavement. We are also joined by Andy Langford from Cruse, a national bereavement charity, to tell us about the employee experience and how they would like to be supported by their employer.

With the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 25 May 2018 fast approaching, we highlight the new and updated resources on XpertHR that will help with your GDPR preparation, whatever stage you are at. If you are just beginning to think about your GDPR compliance, we point out the practical guidance on XpertHR that will help with getting started. If you are further down the line in implementing your compliance plan, we direct you to where you can find more detailed guidance and answers to the tricky questions that will arise as you go along. Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Susie Munro.

People analytics is one of the most significant processes to affect the HR function - the business insight it offers can ensure HR enjoys a level of influence within organisations rarely seen before. Sjoerd van den Heuvel, a researcher and lecturer at the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, and expert in people analytics, joins us to provide some practical guidelines on the hows and whys of getting involved. Presenter Noelle Murphy is joined by Sjoerd van den Heuvel.

Ensuring a redundancy process stands up to inspection while minimising the impact on remaining employees is a an ongoing challenge for HR practitioners. One of our oldest employment rights carries with it a series of common pitfalls. Max Winthrop, an employment law partner at Short Richardson and Forth LLP, joins us to give us the benefit of his experience of regularly advising on redundancy exercises, including how to ensure the consultation process is meaningful and ensuring selection criteria are fair and robust.